The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, August 5, 2000,
Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
CAMP FOR DISABLED: Appreciating the efforts of the Bharat Vikas Parishad, Dr Rattan Singh, Cabinet Minister, announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh to it from his discretionary fund at a free viklang check-up camp held at Ajnala, here on Thursday. Technicians from the Ludhiana Viklang Sahayta Kendra examined 247 disabled persons and identified 121 cases for fitting artificial limbs. The project chairman, Mr Dev Mahajan, supervised the camp.

BATHINDA
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Ablu Cooperative Agriculture Service Society: president — Mr Jagtar Singh and vice-president — Mr Jaskaran Singh.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
SHAMLAT LAND: Mr B.S. Sudan, Deputy Commissioner, while addressing a sangat darshan programme at Mairan village in the district on Friday, said that compared to previous years, Rs 74, 82, 929 more income had been generated during the current year from the auction of shamlat land. A sum of Rs 5.30 crore had been spent on various development schemes in the district, Mr Sudan said.

MOGA
ROAD MISHAPS: Two persons, including a woman, lost their lives in separate accidents around Moga on Thursday night. According to reports, a scooterist was killed when his scooter collided with a speeding vehicle coming from the opposite direction, 56 km from here, on the Moga-Ludhiana road; while a woman was killed when a vehicle crushed her to death near Acharik village under Baghapurana police station, 15 km from here. The police has registered a case and both bodies have been sent for a post-mortem examination.

PATIALA
PROTEST: The Technical Services Union of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) held a rally in front of the PSEB head office on Thursday in protest against the non-implementation of its demands by the management. The protesters were demanding the implementation of various agreements made by the management, stopping “victimisation” of employees, cancelling “politically motivated transfers” and stopping the privatisation of the board.

CHANDIGARH

FUNCTION ORGANISED: The Children’s Alliance for Protection of the Environment (CAPE) organised a function in MRA Senior Secondary Model School here on Friday. Prof P.D. Shastri, former Principal of Government College, addressed the students on “Snakes as friends of humans”. Mr S.K. Sharma, President of the Environment Society of India, traced the origin of Indian festivals and linked them with the conservation of nature.

DERA BASSI
TREE PLANTATION: A tree plantation drive was inaugurated at Government Degree College by Ms Sarabjit Kaur, wife of Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance and Planning Minister of Punjab, here on Friday. The drive was organised by students of the National Service Scheme wing of the college to maintain the ecological balance in this area which has number of industrial units that emit air pollutants. Ms Gurpreet Kaur, Principal, read out a report on the achievements of the college and said that 130 saplings would be planted under this drive.

HARYANA

AMBALA
DENTAL CHECK-UP CAMP: The Rotary Club, Ambala Central, has held a dental check-up camp at PKR Jain Girls School in Ambala city. A team of dentists, including Dr Mona Chaudhary, Dr Deepak Arora and Dr B. Aggarwal, explained the need for dental care and examined the students with the help of a mobile dental unit. The Rotary Club Ambala Central president, Mr Sudhir Jain and Secretary, Mr Tejinder Bajaj, said that besides the dental camp, a medical check-up camp, eye-donation camp and a veterinary camp would also be organised soon.

GREEN AMBALA CAMPAIGN: A 10-day ‘Green Ambala’ campaign was inaugurated here on Friday by the Commissioner of Ambala, Mr Chander Singh. The campaign started at Indra Park in Ambala cantonment where a variety programme on the environment as a theme was organised. The campaign is to be carried out with the assistance of NGOs. Mr Chander Singh said that this campaign would help in stopping the erosion of top soil after heavy rainfall.

ORGANISED: The Ambala Junior Chamber organised a training programme on the topic “Stars of Tomorrow” for students of class V to class X. Dr Sushil Kansal gave them tips for better presentation on the stage. A variety programme was organised at Aggarwal Dharmshala under Dr Kansal. Mr Lalit Sachdeva said that all participants were given gifts to motivate them. Meanwhile, the Jaycerette wing of the Ambala Junior Chamber celebrated Teej mahotsav. Around 50 Jaycerettes participated in the programme whose main attractions were antakshari, a dance competition and tambola. Harjeet Sodhi won the dance competition.

FATEHABAD
MEDICAL CAMP: The district police and local social organisations organised a free medical camp for drug addicts at Alika village on Thursday. The camp organised under a campaign called ‘‘Paryaas’’ was inaugurated by the district police chief, Mr Shrikant Jadhav. Six hundred addicts took medicines and counselling to get rid of the menace.

KAITHAL
TRAFFIC BLOCKED: Labourers working in Anaj Mandi, Cheeka, 25 km from here went on a strike for two hours and blocked traffic on the Kaithal-Cheeka road on Thursday. They were protesting against the administration for not providing any help to the labourers who were injured when some cement sheets of a shed fell on them on Tuesday. The SDM, Mr Rajiv Mehta, and the SHO, Mr Kaptan Singh, assured them that financial help would be provided to the victims following which the blockade was lifted.

PANIPAT
TICKETLESS TRAVELLERS: As many as 85 passengers, travelling without ticket in different trains, were caught during a check at the Panipat Railway Station, on Thursday evening. According to the Railway Magistrate, Mr Krishan Kant, 62 passengers were fined and a recovery of Rs 26, 400 was made. As many as 23 passengers were sent to the Ambala jail.

ROHTAK
LIFE SENTENCE: The District and Sessions Judge, Mr R.S. Madan, has sentenced Kashmira Singh alias Motu (26) of Ajaib village to life on the charge of murder. The judgement was delivered on Tuesday. He was found guilty of murdering Jagdish alias Nanha of the same village in March, 1998.

SIRSA
MEMORANDUM: About 200 Congress workers, led by an ex-Irrigation Minister, Mr Jagdish Nehra, and the state organising secretaries, Mr Veer Bhan Mehta, Mr Mohan Lal Darolia and Mr Hoshiari Lal Sharma, submitted a memorandum on Thursday to the SP against the arrest of Sampooran Singh, a Congress leader, in the Gigorani murder case. They alleged that the arrest was politically motivated and demanded an independent inquiry.

SONEPAT
ARRESTED: The Rai police on Friday claimed to have arrested Atul Kumar alias Soni of Dayalpur ( Delhi), who was, according to the police, wanted in a case of dacoity and had been declared a proclaimed offender. Mr A.S. Chawla, SP, said the arrest of the accused followed the registration of an FIR by Mr Surinder of Gumar village on May 5 last year.

NABBED: The Railway Police has arrested five armed youths , while they were planning to commit a dacoity at a petrol pump at Ganaur town, 16 km from here, on Thursday night. The arrested persons have been identified as Vinod, Pradeep and Om Parkash of Samaspur village and Vinod and Anil of Gandhi Nagar locality of Ganaur. The police also recovered a country-made pistol and three cartridges from their possession.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
WITHDRAWAL SOUGHT: The District Bar Association has asked the Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, to withdraw the proposed amendment to Section 46 of the Himachal Pradesh Land and Revenue Act, stating that the said amendment would infringe upon the right of litigants to get their cases decided by the civil courts. At a meeting of the Bar Association held here on Thursday under the chairmanship of Mr Sandeepan Sharma, the proposed amendment was opposed.

NAHAN
PRIMARY SCHOOLS: The Deputy Commissioner, Sirmour, Mr Rakesh Kaushal, said here on Thursday that 300 new primary schools had been opened in the district. He said arrangements were being made to provide an alternative system of education to children who could not attend regular schools. He said free textbooks were being provided to girls to encourage them to attend schools.